Southington Beats Cheshire, 38-13

November 22, 2012

SOUTHINGTON — The Southington football team likes to play fast, and on its new turf field, the Blue Knights look like world-class sprinters.

Southington built a 31-0 lead on Thanksgiving, never looking back as it capped off a perfect regular season with a 38-13 Apple Valley Classic win over rival Cheshire. Playing their first game at home this season, the Blue Knights christened the new turf at Fontana Field with 384 yards of offense and five rushing touchdowns, setting a sprinter's pace heading into the Class LL tournament.

"I love [our] quick game, I love how off balance it gets the defense. We've been working on it all year and it really worked today," said Southington quarterback Stephen Barmore.

Barmore came into the game averaging more than 200 yards passing a game, but against Cheshire it was the rushing attack that did the damage. Barmore himself scored on the game's opening drive with a 10-yard run before Tyler Hyde and Zach Maxwell added scoring runs of 5 and 1 yards, respectively, helping put Southington up 24-0 at half.

"We really wanted to establish the run because we knew going into the playoffs you had to be able to run the ball and throw the ball," Southington coach Mike Drury said. "The line has been working extremely hard, those guys have worked the hardest out of anyone all season, so it really paid off today."

Jarridd Grimmett, who rushed 14 times for 116 yards, extended the Blue Knights' lead to 31-0 with an 8-yard touchdown run with 6:08 to play in the third quarter.

Cheshire answered the Grimmett score with an eight-play, 74-yard drive capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run from quarterback Vincent Sansone (8 carries, 33 yards). The Rams' (6-4) offense struggled at times, but tailback Sam Pascale was effective on the ground. The senior back carried the ball 19 times for 96 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

"For some reason, it takes us to go back into that locker room to get us to believe in what we have to do," said Cheshire coach Don Drust. "I think we regrouped; the problem is you can't spot anybody 24 points, let alone a team like that."

The Blue Knights, the No. 2 seed, now must ready themselves for the Class LL state tournament on Tuesday, when they probably will meet No. 7 Glastonbury. Southington beat Glastonbury 28-21 on Oct. 20 at Falcon Field in Meriden, a "home" game for the Knights. This time around, Southington will really be on its home turf, a welcome change of scenery.

"We know we want to play very tough when we are home at Fontana Field," Drury said. "The kids rallied this year and played all the away games, and they were excited to get home and just play another one."